Julia, the cocooning apartment

For Julia, as for 42% of young adults between 18 and 25, the priority is to feel comfortable in her home. To achieve that, she spends a lot of time personalising her apartment. Julia is looking for an unusual space with lots of nooks and crannies: she can imagine herself reading or practising yoga here or watching her shows through a video projector on that wall or working on her graphic design and illustration projects on the table in the sitting room. What matters most for Julia is a sense of a cosy haven ‒ a cocoon ‒ where she feels at ease no matter what is happening outside. This means being able to arrange everything as she likes and perhaps even doing some renovations of her own. Julia also envisions becoming a home-owner sooner rather than later to maximise her chances of having a place that feels like it is truly hers. She always tours the neighbourhood before deciding, to spot the local shops and restaurants and to ensure that is bicycle friendly. She plans to park her bicycle in the closet on the ground floor of her building. As soon as she moves in, she devotes much of her time to customising the space. She paints the walls and organises the interior for decorations and furniture, thinking carefully about the colours she will use. Julia readily calls on her close friends for help with settling in and she has everyone over for a house-warming party.

For Idama, it’s a 4-star flat

Idama is quite busy and for her and 7% of young people aged 18 to 25, the most important thing is to have an apartment that makes life easier. In her professional and personal lives, Idama is always connected. Her job in banking compels her to spend a lot of time on her PC and she takes a few minutes at the end of the day to place online orders with e-commerce sites. When she gets home, Idama controls everything thanks to the advanced functionality of her apartment: shades, lighting, temperature and more. Indeed, she loves having services on site, from the fitness room on the top floor of her building to the housekeeping and dry cleaning services, just like when she stays in a hotel on holiday. When Idama shops for a new apartment, her first instinct is to check the Wi-Fi network and the overall services available. Because she does not spend much time in her full-service apartment on weekdays, she often invites friends over for brunch. She always orders the food from a caterer. In the evening, she enjoys going out to concerts.

Meet Guillaume and his planet-friendly apartment

Guillaume is deeply committed to the climate. He lives in apartments that share his values: places that are eco-conscious in how they manage energy and water consumption and in the day-to-day details. He is like 3% of young adults. Guillaume tries to apply his personal beliefs to is home on a daily basis. He is actively involved in the community vegetable garden on the roof of his building, which allows him to meet new people and discuss their civic engagement, at home and beyond. Guillaume takes pride in living in an apartment that heavily features recycled and second-hand furnishings, plus it has a balcony with a great view of the world outside. His kitchen island is functional and built to store all his bulk food items. This is where he prepares his lunches to go and cooks up dinners for his friends from the association. Everyone loves coming to his place and they appreciate his thoughtful, functional apartment. When he moved in, Guillaume sought help from his friends and asked for advice from his new neighbours, who told him about the local farm stand, as well as the second-hand stores and bike repair shop.   Also read:

• What does your perfect home look like? https://www.bouygues-construction.com/blog/fr/aventures-humaines/imaginer-logement/
• Young people and housing: the Swiss army knife, the open door or the move-in ready https://www.bouygues-construction.com/blog/fr/reflexions-prospectives/jeunes-logement/